Soulless
by FrooFris
Summary: A love story between a bully and a outcast. After the events in the dark world, Kris hopes to continue their life peacefully, alongside their new friend Susie. Howewer, strange occurences and accussations arise, threatening Kris and everyone close to them. Even with Susie's help, will Kris be able to deal with these problems and rumors, or will they succumb to their own soullessnes
1. Awakening

Cold.

Kris's entire body felt like it was dragged through ten kilometers of snow. Breathing was shallow and a little painful. There was no other sound rather than Kris's own breathing. They were simply lying in their bed, shivering as the early morning sun rays penetrated the tiny space between the window curtains. Kris felt like death itself.

Overall, a pretty standard Monday morning.

After a few minutes of pure, unbroken silence, Kris began hearing noises coming from downstairs. It sounded like footsteps. As much as Kris wanted to stay lying in the bed and wait for the sweet release of death, they knew it would never come. What DID come, however, was a certain white, angry goat lady:

"KRIS!"

"Wake up, Kris! There is no way i will allow you to come to school late twice in a row! Come on."

Before Kris could so much as move, Toriel was standing in their room, hands at her side and a worried expression on her face. "Get up." she finished her sentence. She turned to leave the room; but not before stopping at the door with a little smirk on her face: "If you do not get up, I will eat all of yesterday's pie without you." Then, she left the room. Now, as much as Kris enjoyed loitering in their bed and do nothing, the thought of Toriel's famous butterscoth-cinnamon pie being taken from them was an unacceptable thought.

Slowly and lazily, Kris dragged themselves out of the bed to put on their shoes.

For some reason, they were muddied and freshly wet. Almost like they were used a few hours ago.

Shaking their head to erase the strange thought, Kris walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway. The scent of pie immedietly hit Kris's nostrils, waking them up, as they descended the flight of stairs into the kitchen.

The kitchen was almost shining in the morning light; the windows were opened, letting sunlight and the sweet chirping of morning birds into the house. It was pleasantly warm, and the air was permeated with the delightful aroma of butterscotch and cinnammon. Kris simply stood at the bottom of the stairs, letting the pleasant atmosphere wake them up from their slumber in the stuffy, dark bedroom.

Toriel was sitting at the kitchen table, reading newspaper and humming to herself silently, occasionally taking a sip out of a coffe mug placed on the table. "I see that my pie works better than an alarm clock" She said sweetly, without taking her eyes off of her reading. The culprit in question was sitting at the table aswell- looking as delicious as ever. Kris's mouth was watering just at the sight of the wonderful thing. "Come take a seat my child, we still have some time." Kris didn't need to be told twice. Kris took a piece of the pie, and took a bite. The taste was godlike; no wonder Toriel's pie was so famous. The sweet sound of birds chirping was now replaced with the munching, as Kris stuffed the delicious treat into themselves.

"Kris?" Toriel broke the silence, "I didn't get the chance to ask you yesterday, but... whatever were you up to the whole day? Alphys told me you skipped most of the day, and no one else was able to tell me where you were..." she trailed off. Kris stopped eating and rose their head, confused. "I know you told me you were hanging out with a friend- which is wonderful, but..." Toriel took off her reading glasses and looked at Kris, who was looking at the ever so interesting floor. "I'm not mad, just curious.. it is not like yourself to dissappear like that." she asked as innocently as she could. Kris, who was now simply sitting there avoiding Toriel's gaze, began thinking;

The journey they underwent and the people they met; Ralsei, the lonely prince... Lancer the not-so-serious bad guy...The Chaos King; who wanted nothing but their destruction...the goofy Duke of puzzles, whose name no one remembers...that crazy clown...all the card creatures...the weird shop-keeper, and finally;

Susie. Kris's tormentor.

Ever since she met them, Susie went out of her way to make Kris's life a living nightmare. She would push them around for fun. She would steal their things, sometimes for good, sometimes just so she could destroy them in front of Kris. She would threaten Kris non-stop, and in a lot of cases fulfill those threats...and there was nothing that could have been done. No one knows Susie's parents or any relatives to go talk to, and it is practicaly a deathwish to confront Susie. Kris learned that the hard way, when they felt overconfident and stood up to her. They had to hide the giant scratch mark on their arm for months, otherwise if they so much as told or showed anyone, Susie would make sure they weren't capable of walking for the rest of their life. Susie was the reason Kris, and many others, dreaded going to school. But now, after the journey through the dark world, Susie; the same person that wanted to "bite their face off", the same person that caused Kris so much suffering...

Was now their friend.

Kris simply sat there, pondering that statement...Susie...being their friend.

For the first time in their entire life, Kris was actually looking FORWARD to going to school. The image of a life without being scared every single day was very enticing, and made Kris feel atleast a little better. For the first time in years, Kris felt a little happy.

"It's OK if you don't want to talk about it..." Toriel said, snapping Kris back into reality. They looked into Toriel's caring, motherly eyes and smiled faintly. Seeing this, Toriel smiled back, in much bigger quantity, and hugged Kris. "You know you can tell me if anything is bothering you, but if you do not wish to, that is fine too."

The mother and child sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Toriel let go; "Well, I hope you had a good breakfast." She said as she glanced at the clock mounted neatly on the wall. "We should probably go now."

Toriel picked up the dishes from the table, alongside the (unfortunetly) unfinished pie from Kris, and put it away. Seeing the delightful treat being taken away, Kris felt dismayed. "Let's get going, Kris." Toriel said as she walked to the door. Kris followed behind.

The trip to school was uneventful, and soon Kris found themselves being hugged by Toriel once again, in the school hallway. "Have a good day now." Toriel said as she went to her class. "And try to stay in class for atleast a little longer now, OK?" she snickered as she dissapeared in her class door.

Kris turned around, and followed behind some of the other students to their own class. The corridor was filled with many other students, all monsters, as they chatted amongst themselves. Some of them turned to Kris and whispered something to the others, while others just looked with curious expressions at them. Kris couldn't care less. A certain purple lizard was on their mind.

Right now, all Kris was thinking about was Susie.

(Well. here's my first ever shot at a fanfic. I literally never wrote anything before, so feedback is REALLY apreciated. Don't be shy about criticism.

Also I apologize in advance if some words are spelled awkwardly, English isn't my first language. I hope you enjoyed reading!)  



	2. Acquaintances

Kris walked into the classroom. Quietly, as they made their way to their desk, Kris could the hear the chatter of the other students; Snowy was cracking some awful joke about ice again, while Jockington and Monster Kid listened with intent. Temmie was doing...something, while Catti was, unsurprisingly, on her phone. At the front of the room, Noelle was chatting with Berdly; but as soon as he saw Kris looking over, he stopped and gave Kris a shifty look, possibly thinking he looked intimidating. Noelle just looked apologetically at Kris, giving them a weak smile. However, Kris didn't really care, as they were eagerly scanned the classroom for a certain purple, tall lizard girl. To Kris's utter disappointment, Susie was nowhere to be found.

They sat down in their chair, and placed their head in their hands. While they sat quietly, Kris began overhearing Monster Kid talking about something interesting:

"Yo! Did you hear about what happened down near the church last night?" he asked. "Something with the priest's car, right?" Snowy added. "Apparently someone beat it up pretty bad. Some vandal, I reckon'. But who in the blazes would vandalize a PRIEST's car?"

"That's not the interesting part." Jock joined. "Apparently, it was SCRATCHED, almost like with claws. Now, smashing up a car, that's child's play. But SCRATCHING it up? That's some next level vandalism right there. It must've took hours to do so, and I would imagine it would make a hell-of-a-lot of noise."

"Weird. And for no reason too."

"Heh. Knowing that some dedicated, clawed, crazy vandal is running around..."-Kris could hear the pun coming a mile away- "it gives me the CHILLS." The other two kids groaned.

Before they could start another interesting conversation ( probably about snow puns), the bell rang, and everyone skittered to their seats. A minute after that, Alphys hurriedly walked in, carrying some papers alongside, not taking any chances, a box of chalk.

"Hi, everyone!" she said awkwardly. "W-we're continuing yesterday's group project, o-okay? So, make groups and start working, you only have about two weeks to d-do it. Sooo... yeah." She began scratching the back of her neck. "Right. I'll write the assignment now.". Alphys began writing on the board, while everyone took out their projects and began talking to each other, once again. Kris just sat there.

Alphys looked over: "Umm... Kris? A-are you OK?" Kris was looking at her blankly, waiting until she realizes. "...Oooh. Right." finally. "You weren't here. W-well..." Alphys walked over to Kris.

"The project is basically that you, and your.." Alphys looked around. "..partner..have to come up with a product and a way of promoting it. I-it doesn't have to be anything special..just try to make it at least a little original? O-okay?" Kris nodded, and Alphys walked away to her computer to do 'schoolwork'. Since Kris didn't know anything about product making or marketing, and Susie was nowhere to be found, they decided to the best course of action when a student is incapable of moving forward with their work; give up and go to sleep.

And so Kris put down their head and closed their eyes, the chatter of the class becoming distant in a few moments, as they fell into slumber.

 _Darkness. Everywhere they looked, it was dark. Dark and wet. They could feel water against their feet, soaking through their shoes and socks, making them feel even colder. There were no walls around them. Just darkness._

 _They could make out some sort of objects in the water. The objects looked tangled and broken. They walked closer. The objects were all around them, sitting idly in the water._

 _Those weren't some objects._

 _Those were bodies. Disfigured and mingled. Some dismembered, others intact. They could make out faces among them, some familiar, others not._

 _They noticed something else. The water at their feet wasn't water._

 _It was blood._

 _Blood and bodies everywhere. They felt nothing._

 _Something was standing in the distance. They approached it._

 _It looked like Kris._

 _But it wasn't Kris. There was something wrong about this thing._

 _They attempted to say something to it. It began to turn around._

 _There was something wrong with it's face._

 _Before they could run, they felt something incredibly wrong...something painful. They felt..._

 _... A pencil in their ear?_

Kris felt the rubbery end of a pencil being shoved into their ear. With a groan, they waved their hand around and looked up at their attacker. "Heh. Not not a morning person, eh?" Kris was greeted with the sight of Susie kneeling down and smirking into their face.

Susie... Her presence somehow soothed Kris. Her long, brown hair covering her eyes, adding a sense of mystery. Her wide grin, while scary at first, was now a welcome sight. Susie's presence somehow soothed Kris. Made them forget about the strange dream they just had.

"Come on. We need to do this project or whatever, which means I need you to do all the work. So no slacking off, lazy." Kris just shrugged, and proceeded to tell Susie the details of the project, alongside their incapability of working on it.

"Sooo.. you don't know anything about marketing. Great. Well, since I don't know nothin' about it either, i'm guessing we're screwed." Susie finished her statement by sitting on her chair and placing her hands behind her head. "Any ideas?"

"Library?" Susie pondered Kris's suggestion. "Well...Technically it could work. If I take out Berdly while he's entering, you could try looking into his bag and..."

"What?..."

"You want to go for BOOKS in there? For marketing? Uh.."

"Fine. We'll do it your boring way. We'll go get some books. But YOU're slogging through them, not me."

As Kris and Susie discussed the details of their project plan, the class slowly approached it's end, and before they both knew it, it was over. Both of them were now standing outside school, while Kris was waiting for their mother. Susie was there also, eating chalk from a box she snitched from Alphys.

"Listen." Susie broke the silence. "We'll meet outside the library this evening, 'kay? And DON't be late. I HATE waiting." Susie began to walk away, but Kris stopped her.

"What? What is it?"

"Huh? Why don't I just come with you?"

"Well..." Susie trailed off, and looked away.

"I..I don't wanna meet your mother. Not yet anyway." Kris was taken aback slightly by this.

"Not that she's not nice or anything..." Susie looked at Kris, who was smirking. "No, I'm NOT scared of her. And if you say that again, you WILL catch one in the face." Susie reasserted herself. "It's just..." she trailed off again.

"I'll tell you later. I..."

"I need to go. See you later, Kris!" Susie began walking away, this time a bit faster. Kris was left alone, once again.

They are DEFINITELY not going to be late at the library.

( I'm terrible at comedy, don't judge me. Also, I know it's kind of boring right now, but I hope to make it more interesting as soon as possible.)


	3. Meeting

''Are you sure you're going to be okay, Kris?'' Toriel inquired worriedly. ''I mean, I know you're practically an adult now, but...I don't really like the idea of you wandering outside alone, especially after what happened to Father Alvin's car.''

''I also don't fully understand why you insist on doing this project with your partner outside. Why not just bring them over here? Any friend of yours is always welcome here. You know that, don't you?'' As Toriel looked at Kris innocently, they just cringed slightly and looked away. Toriel didn't seem to notice.

*sigh* ''Alright. Just promise to be home before it's very late, okay?' And call me if anything happens. And make sure that you have your jacket on properly, it can get very cold this time of the year. And don't wander too far. And...''

Kris completely ignored pretty much everything Toriel was saying at this point. As she went on with her endless safety lecture, Kris just nodded their head as goodbye, and walked out the door, closing it behind them.

It was still light outside, but the sun was going to set in about an hour. Not that Kris cared particularly, and as they made their way toward the library, Kris kept thinking about what Susie told them at school, about not wanting to meet Toriel. It didn't make a whole lot of sense; even when Susie made Kris's life hell-on-Earth, Kris never told Toriel, or anyone for that matter. So Susie had no intention of being scared of Toriel (Which, now that Kris thought about it, Susie probably had no intention of being scared of anyone, rather on the contrary). But... why the hesitation, then?

As Kris contemplated Susie's inexplicable behavior, they slowly made their way toward the library, where they would meet said person. On their way, Kris didn't really pay much attention to anything or anyone around them, however they stopped when they reached a certain house. It wasn't the house itself that caught Kris's attention...

It was the scratched up car that was parked in the driveway.

Remembering the conversation their classmates had, Kris observed the car; the scratches covered the entirety of the car, being most dense at the windows. The hood, doors and the back were wrecked badly too, and one of the wheels was popped, with a giant tear through the middle portion. Overall, it probably wasn't going to be use-able in quite some time.

As Kris studied the car with slight intrigue, they started to have a weird feeling in their stomach the more they looked. It wasn't fear, just...

...

Kris decided to step away and continue going to the library.

As they approached the library (or Librarby), Kris could make out a large, purple shape in the distance, standing in front of the building. The shape looked inpatient.

''Jeez, took you long enough.'' welcomed Susie, ''I thought I was going to plant roots here. Next time, try not to take the scenic route, eh?'' Susie teased Kris who just snickered, as Susie didn't realize she wasn't far from the truth. ''Anyway, we should go inside. I'm going to go insane if I stand in this spot another second.'' Following Susie's command, the pair entered the library.

Inside, there wasn't really any other person at this hour, aside from some teens chatting at a table, and some old lady. Berdly was standing at the reception desk, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. That was until he saw Kris, at which point he gave them his trademark shifty look- followed by a look of pure horror at the sight of Susie.

''H-huh? What..what the hell are YOU doing here?'' pointed Berdly at Susie accusingly. ''Aren't you prohibited from going in here after that encyclopedia fiasco?'' Kris looked at Susie questioningly, and Susie just gritted her teeth and looked away. ''It..it's a long story.'' then, looking at Berdly, she continued; ''One that we DEFINITELY aren't going to go over again.'' "But..'' Berdly wanted to say something. but Susie cut him off-''It would be embarrassing. And besides..."Susie walked up to the counter. "You're going to make an exception for a FRIEND of yours, like Kris, right?" Berdly just cowered behind the desk. ''R-right. Whatever. Just do what you need to do and go.'' Susie leaned on the counter, smiling. ''Thanks. you're such a good FRIEND.'' Berdly whimpered and cowered even more at the word 'friend'.

As they walked away from the counter and the poor soul behind it, Susie started scratching her head. ''So...how do you wanna do this?'' Kris thought for a second, but before they could come up with anything, Susie continued: ''That was more of a rhetorical question. I'm going to go sit over there and take a nap, while you look. Sound good?'' Kris raised their finger in protest. ''Thanks. Good luck.'' Bearing a comic grin on her face, Susie walked over to the table in the corner reserved for patrons, and sprawled herself on top of it. Kris simply stood there.

About half-an hour later, Kris had gathered the books that would help with their assignment. Or, rather they thought they would, as Kris had no knowledge about marketing or design. Kris carried the small pile over to Berdly and told them they would like to borrow it. Berdly wanted to say to Kris that it's impossible without a membership, but looking over to the patrons table and seeing Susie snoring on top of it, he changed his mind and gave Kris a return slip, valuing his face intact more than the library rules.

Kris stood beside Susie for a moment and poked her in the face lightly. Nothing.

Kris decided to poke a little harder. Still nothing.

Kris pushed Susie's face. She murmured a little, then went back to snoring.

As Kris was about to slap Susie, they stopped and looked at the chair beneath her. An idea came to mind.

Kris positioned themselves behind Susie, crouched down and grabbed the two back legs of the chair she was sitting on. Then they yanked. As hard as they could.

''AAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL?!'' Susie screamed out as her back collided with the floor. She sat up, groaned, and looked behind her. Kris was standing there with the chair in their hands, a small smirk on their face. ''Are you insane?!'' Kris shook their head, and Susie suddenly realized. She used to do this to Kris ALL the time, when they were sleeping in class. Revenge is best served cold.

''Ugh. I guess it's fair...'' Susie stood up and looked at Kris, annoyed. She then turned her frown into a smirk and grabbed Kris, giving them a noogie. ''Hey, i'm still the one in charge here!'' Susie laughed softly as she scrubbed the top of Kris's head.

Kris felt...something.

After Susie was done, Kris picked up the pile of books and followed Susie out of the building. It was almost dark outside. ''You know... I was thinking.'' Susie began talking as they walked the empty street. ''We need a place to do this project in peace. And I don't really wanna go to your house...'' Kris looked at Susie curiously, as she faced away. ''Why? Well... Cause it's weird. You know...awkward.'' Susie desperately tried to convince Kris to her reasoning. Kris wasn't buying any of it.

Then they came up with something.

''...''

''What? Have I ever been to someone else's house?'' Susie started to stutter. "W-well...of course I was. Who do you take me for?''

''...''

"Have I ever been to someone else's house as a GUEST? Uh...'' Kris swore they could see Susie sweat.

"H-hey! What's with the questioning? S-stop being so weird!" Susie snapped suddenly while trembling. Kris couldn't help but feel a little surprised. They decided to drop the conversation.

A few moments of awkward silence passed as Susie and Kris made their way through the seemingly empty town.

''Anyway, as I was trying to say...'' Susie broke the silence. "We need a place to go to while working on this project thingy. Like a clubhouse or something." Susie pondered for a moment. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "I got it! I know just the place! Come on." Out of nowhere, Susie turned around and began walking in a completely different direction than before. Kris stood on the spot and was looking at Susie walking away.

They wanted to ask why they couldn't just go to Susie's house, but...

Susie looked back at Kris. "You coming or what?" Seeing the hopeful look in Susie's eyes, and still thinking about the outburst Susie had just a few minutes ago...Kris decided to keep silent.

They nodded their head and followed Susie into the night street.

Kris and Susie walked out of town and up the nearby hill. It took them about twenty minutes, and the road itself wasn't really anything enjoyable, considering the fact that it was pitch black and there were no lights in the forest. "It should be just around here. I think" Susie called back to Kris, who she hoped was following her. Kris just grunted in response. They both made their way through a thick bush before coming up to a clearing. Kris walked up to Susie and gazed at the vista before them.

The pair was standing at the top of a small hill formation, which rose a few yards above the trees. There was ample space between the trees and the edge of the clearing, which gave way to a chasm going down into the thick tree-tops. Standing on this small clearing of grass, Kris was able to see pretty much the entirety of their home-town. The town was a feast for the eyes, lit up by the street-lights that looked like small bulbs of light in the distance, while the surrounding area was shrouded in darkness.

"Pretty cool, right?"Susie whistled. "I come here all the time when I need to think. I don't know if anyone else knows about this place." Susie then turned to Kris, biting her lip a small bit: "You're the first person I showed this to. Well, I guess it would make sense, as we're friends, right?"

Kris gave Susie a curious expression.

"I mean, I wasn't able to show this to any of my other friends, as I didn't have..."

...

Susie quickly trailed off, realizing what she was saying.

"A-anyway. This place is perfect for our project. It's quiet, peaceful, and no one will bother us here. We'll be able to work in peace." Kris snickered.

"What?"

"..."

"Yeah, right. By WE I mean YOU'll be alright, while I take a nap."

The pair was standing there, taking in the sight. It seemed like time has stopped.

...

They looked at each other, and Susie smiled softly.

Kris was staring at her with a blank expression. They felt...strange. They couldn't put their finger on it, it was just...weird. They never felt like this before. This uneasiness. This confusion.

This...warmth.

Susie was beginning to get a little disturbed by Kris's strange behavior. "You...you OK, dude? You look a bit pale there." Kris shook their head, and looked elsewhere. Susie could hear them breathe hardily. "Um..we should probably go back. It's getting late." Susie turned around and started to walk away. Kris followed behind, not saying anything.

They reached the town and Kris's house without neither of them saying anything.

"So..I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school, Kris." Susie began to fidget again. She wanted to come up with something to say...

..But before she could say anything, Kris walked past her into their house.

"Uh..Bye then?" Susie said.

Kris didn't even turn around as they walked inside and closed the door.

Susie was left standing in the cold street, alone.

Kris went to bed without thinking about anything.


	4. Forest

They were standing in a forest. Darkness surrounded them, as their breath drew short from the eerie silence. It felt like they were being watched among the tall trees, as everywhere they looked they saw only black.

After standing in one spot for what like an eternity, they began walking forward, their feet crunching the leaves and twigs beneath them, making that the only sound they could hear. They didn't have any sense of direction. As they continued on, they could only barely see outlines of the trees. Somehow, they felt like the trees all looked the same.

They also felt something stalking them. Something twisted and evil. Something with ill intent.

Something familiar.

They looked around them. Nothing. Just trees. Trees, darkness and...

...a person?

They saw something that looked like a person. Not just any person...

...a human.

The human looked confused and scared. It was looking around itself frantically, all while shifting between walking and running. The human kept going further away, away from them.

 **"FOLLOW"**

They heard a voice in their head. A voice they heard somewhere before, but didn't know where. They decided to obey.

Slowly, they started going after the human, following exactly in their footsteps. Soon enough, the human was again in their sight. It was looking more desperate by the second.

 **"CLOSER"**

The voice commanded. They obeyed.

Closing the distance between them and the human, they felt a rush of emotions they couldn't describe. Like some sort of euphoria. They wanted more.

As they quickly moved in closer toward the human, the emotions were getting stronger and stronger, taking over their whole body. They felt like heaven.

Then, the human turned around and looked at them. It's face was blurred. Insignificant. They knew what they wanted.

They wanted the human's SOUL.

 **"SOUL. HUMAN SOUL"**

The voice was almost singing in their head, pleading to get closer to the only thing that was important in this life.

The human began screaming and started running away. They didn't understand why.

There was nowhere to run.

In one swift move, they could have grabbed the human and take what was rightfully theirs. But they never did.

 **"OPPOSITION"**

The voice said in a panicked tone. They turned around.

They saw Kris.

Kris told them to stop.

 **"DON'T LISTEN"**

Kris told them to leave the human alone.

 **"KILL"**

Kris told them to go away.

 **"K I L L"**

Kris told them...

 **"I SAID KILL"**

... that it's going to be okay.

 **"KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL"**

...They listened to Kris.

They SPARED the human.

( I might tag this as horror. Maybe. Also sorry for the short chapter.)


	5. Reconnaissance

Kris woke up sweating and shaking. They felt like their entire body was about to fall apart, and every breath they took was of pained difficulty. They rubbed their beady eyes and slowly got up to sit on the bed, persistently feeling the weight of some unknown origin, both in their head and on their body.

The room was quiet and dim, as is usual this early in the morning. The curtains were still covering the windows, letting only the tiniest amount of light through to illuminate the bedroom. Kris could only hear the faint noise of stuff being moved around in the kitchen, presumably by their mother.

Kris studied their room. Going from their bed, they looked at their clothes drawer: it was filled mostly with striped shirts. Kris didn't really care much for fashion, but they still had their own preferred clothing style, albeit and extremely boring one, as many people would put it. They looked past the closed window, and caught sight of their only one notable belonging; a rusty bird cage.

Toriel bought for Kris after they showed some interest in bird-keeping, but that didn't really worked out. Kris pretty much abandoned the hobby after about two days, as the parrot they were supposed to take care of managed to escape. Toriel was so broken up about the bird's escape, meanwhile Kris couldn't care less. The cage remained as a grim reminder of Kris's ineptitude.

..but...looking at the cage now...

Kris felt like they were about to vomit just looking at the rusty thing. They had no idea why...

They decided to tear their gaze away from the cage, and studied the rest of the room. They gazed past the closed window, and their eyes landed on the opposite bed.

Asriel's bed...

It was made up neatly, and the drawer beside it displayed many awards and congratulations from various ceremonies. Still shaking, Kris got up and walked to the drawer, opening it. Inside, they found a large collection of shirts very similar to their own, alongside some other articles of clothing that looked like it was unused for the most part. For some reason, there was also a shirt with a huge hole present as well.

As Kris studied the drawer and the bed, they started to feel a slight sting somewhere in their body . The sight of their brother's belongings made something in Kris's stomach turn, and the more they observed, the worse it got. Memories and images of years past began flowing into Kris's head...

 _Asriel, still sitting on his bed when they both were very little, reading some goofy novel like he always did. Kris used to read some of them too, often discussing the events of the novel with their brother afterwards._

 _...The memories of Asriel laughing at Kris as they completely missed the point of every single one..._

 _...the memories of him apologizing afterwards as he didn't want Kris feeling bad about themselves..._

 _Asriel was a huge pushover. He couldn't bring himself to hurt a fly, and he was so nice to everyone he knew, especially Kris. Even strangers received the most kindest and sometimes most naive treatments from him. He always greeted everyone with a smile, even if some people found Asriel to be annoying._

 _He couldn't stand to see other people hurt. He always brought every animal he found that was hurt to the clinic as fast as he could. When Asriel was a bit older, he would visit sick monsters in the hospital regularly, even if they barely knew him. He would always help Kris out every time they got stuck with homework or didn't understand something in school._

Kris's expression grew darker.

 _...he would always comfort Kris if they were bullied or hurt by Susie..._

...

...Kris's expression grew even darker. They felt a pit in their stomach.

 _...he would help them go back to sleep if they had a nightmare..._

...

...they missed Asriel.

* * *

Toriel was about to go upstairs and get Kris to wake up (again), when said human made their way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Well, Good morning, Kris! I see you learned to wake up without my assistance. How responsible of you." Toriel jabbed. As she prepared breakfast, she hummed softly to herself.

Kris sat down at the table quietly, and leaned on their hands. They looked out the window, and saw that it was a pretty morning outside, just like yesterday. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming...

For some reason, they decided to stop that train of thought, as they found it strangely haunting.

Toriel turned her head slightly as she began speaking to Kris; "So, how did you get on with your friend last night? Did you find all the material you needed for that project of yours? I heard it was quite difficult for you."

Kris didn't say anything, and just grunted in response.

The project. They left the books somewhere in their house yesterday evening. They couldn't remember where exactly, as their mind was focused on some other things that night, after...

...

Suddenly, the events of yesterday's evening began manifesting themselves in front of Kris: how they left the library with Susie. Then, Susie came up with an idea to where they could do their project in peace, some hill overlook in the forest behind the town. They remember standing there with Susie, looking at the illuminated town...

...then they remembered looking away from the scenery, and looking straight into Susie's eyes. They remember the way she looked back...

...the way she smiled at them...

Kris began sweating. They started to feel that wretched pit in their stomach again, only this time, it's...

...it felt kind of...nice? warm? But at the same time...

...it was alien. Scary, even. What was this weird feeling?

Kris began thinking deeper. About how Susie smiled at them afterwards...

Susie considered Kris her friend now, after their adventure in the Dark World. Susie trusted them, and even went as far as to try ACTing instead of FIGHTing, just because of Kris. Well, no, that's a lie, she did it because of Lancer, but even still...

...she trusted Kris. She wanted to hang out with them. And now that Kris thought about it, they trusted her too. She was THEIR friend as well.

...so why do they feel so strange around her? They didn't have this weird feeling around Ralsei or Lancer, their other friends they met during their adventures. So why was Susie an exception?

...was it because of their negative past together?

Susie did use to bully Kris a lot. Maybe that's why they have this uneasy feeling around her? Because it's not right for someone who was torturing you your whole life to just become your friend over such a short period of time? That makes sense.

...right?

Kris grimaced. They felt like they were missing something. They wondered...

..does Susie feel the same way about them?

She also didn't have many friends before their adventure, or at least not any that Kris could think of. She was an outsider, much like them. Although, on the other hand, Kris didn't really choose to be so cut off. They weren't against the prospect of a few friends, unlike Susie who seemed like...like she was actively pushing people away from her. Like she WANTED to be hated by everyone.

Kris wondered why that was.

Maybe she just hated strangers? Maybe she was...awkward around other people? So she decided it was better for her to be hated rather than being out of her comfort zone?

...it seemed like a far fetched theory.

Kris furrowed their brow.

...maybe she enjoyed hurting other people?

Kris shuddered at the thought. Surely not, right? They might have thought so a couple of days earlier, but now... after what they've been through...

Susie didn't really struck Kris as that kind of person, even if she tried to convince everyone she was like that. She looked really happy, both when they managed to SPARE the king and when they said their goodbyes to their friends. If she really enjoyed pain more than having friends, she wouldn't have turned her way around.

A dark thought came through Kris's head.

...maybe she was afraid of other people? Afraid they would hurt her if she let them? So if she wouldn't let anyone near her, they wouldn't have a chance.

...

Kris was suddenly very interested in Susie's private life. Not because they wanted to intrude or something like that, but because they felt it was the right to do.

As a friend of Susie, Kris felt like it was their responsibility.

"Kris?"

They wanted to find out more about Susie. She was...

...an interesting person, to say the least.

"Kris? Are you OK?"

Kris snapped back into reality, as they saw Toriel standing in front of them with a worried expression. "I swear, it sometimes feels like I'm raising a zombie. Did you hear anything what I just said?" Kris bit their lip, and smiled sheepishly. Toriel sighed.

"I asked, what would you like for breakfast?" Toriel inquired, going back to her usual sweet tone, but still rubbing the side of her head.

Kris didn't feel hungry in the slightest, and after today's...hectic awakening, they felt somewhat sick at the prospect of any food. Besides, they already ate the remainder of the B-Scotch pie, and there was nothing else that could possibly replace that in terms of a good breakfast meal. So Kris just shook their head.

"Well, whatever you see fit."

Toriel went back to the counter to get her won breakfast, and placed it on the kitchen table. It was some sort of pasta, but it looked weirdly...unprepared.

"There's a new resident in our town, and their brother is apparently some sort of a chef, so I couldn't resist trying out their cooking!" Toriel blurted out quickly, noting the strange look on Kris's face.

Kris just shrugged. They don't remember meeting anyone like that.

"Kris," Toriel began before she could take a bite out of the bowl. "I was just asking you about your project before you decided to visit Day-dreamland instead of talking with your mother. I found the books that , i hope for your sake-" She gave Kris a sharp look. "-you BORROWED from the library. Don't think I haven't forgotten about that stunt you pulled last holiday." Kris cringed. They remembered well when they stole a copy of 'Dragon's lair' from the library. It was mostly thanks to them being too lazy to buy a membership.

They didn't have the heart to tell Toriel that they stuffed the book under Asr-..their brother's bed.

"I have to wonder, what were you up to yesterday?" Toriel softened her gaze, and asked curiously. Now as much as Toriel was good at hiding her intentions...

Kris knew they had this conversation before. And they knew they threw her off last time.

Kris had no problem with telling Toriel about their (sadly) boring life, but if they tell her what they did yesterday...

...Toriel would be curious to meet their so-called 'friend'. She was always extremely interested whenever Kris even so much as mentioned they met someone.

And Kris remembered clearly how much Susie tried to avoid meeting their mother, going as far as dragging them out of town to do their project. Why would she though?

Well, Kris didn't really knew. Another reason why they were so interested in Susie's private life now.

...And they felt that, because Susie trusted them now, they should try to do everything in their power to avoid putting Susie through something that might, potentially, harm their somewhat fragile friendship.

So Kris decided to keep quiet.

Toriel looked Kris in the eyes for a moment, before turning away and exhaling loudly.

"That's alright. Whenever you feel like you want to talk about it..." Toriel turned away. Kris could sense the distant melancholy in her words.

They didn't talk much after that.

* * *

Kris was looking out the window of the car, not registering much of what was going on outside anyway. The houses looked all the same, with same people wandering outside. The trees were a nice mix of orange and yellow, making the whole town feel very...nostalgic. Somehow.

Kris turned away from the window and looked ahead. They didn't want to think about the past, not now anyway.

...

Is that..?

...

Kris leaned in closer so they could see outside the front window more clearly. It looked like officer Undyne's car, stopped near the crossroads.

When they started to pass it, Kris could see Undyne talking to a couple of the other officers, looking very...worried?

They were all gathered around someone who was sitting on the ground, but Kris couldn't make out who it was. They started to squirm in their seat to get a better look, but the officers were too big for Kris to see through them. The car passed by the scene too quickly.

Kris sat back in their seat with a sigh.

...

They felt this was going to be a long day.

(Reading through the comments on the last chapter, I realized i didn't really focus much on the 'Kris x Susie' part of the story, which i deeply apologize for. I will try to for sticking with my story, nevertheless, and for all the comments, both positive and negative.)


	6. Gathering of the Clouds

Toriel parked at the (for some reason) only one parking space, and exited the car with Kris following behind. She wanted to hold Kris's hand, but they made it SPECIFICALLY clear they do not wish to be "dragged" around like that. Toriel couldn't figure out why; what's so bad at a mother showing how much she cares about her child?

Anyway, the duo made their way through a crowd of students present at the school entrance, and entered the building. There was even more students roaming about in the school hallway, chatting about and going off to do god-knows what.

Kris felt stagnant. They hated crowds like these, because they always felt like they were being watched from all sides, the gazes of judging students all gathering up on top of them. Kris knew exactly what everyone was thinking; it was easy. The monsters all looked at Kris the same way: some with dis-interest, others with disgust. Some of them even had a faint glimpse of fear in their eyes, turning and walking away the second Kris looked at them.

None of them even tried talking to Kris. Well, not ALL of them, there was always-

"Kris! Hey Kris!"

Once again, someone decided to interrupt Kris's thinking session, and pull them back into the real world. When Kris looked up, they saw a small, deer-like monster waving at them across the hallway.

Noelle.

Out of all the other monsters Kris had to endure school with, Noelle was the only one they considered the closest to being a "friend". Even though she was afraid of Kris not too long ago (and she still probably is), she always tried to strike up a conversation with them, trying to be polite. Kris could tell she genuinely cared about them, if only in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the main reason Kris considered her a friend was because of the numerous times they had to borrow something off of her. So, it only felt fair to show at least some bit of respect for the poor, shy deer-girl.

Kris wondered if their approach to making friends wasn't flawed somehow...

...No. It's perfect.

Kris made their way through the abundance of students to Noelle, who was standing near their classroom, next to some lockers. She was rummaging through her own locker as Kris arrived. Kris looked at the assortment of metal, compact spaces with disdain.

This is where Susie tried to...

...

Kris shook their head. Susie and them are over THAT part of their relationship.

'Relationship...'

The word sounded strangely funny when Kris said it to themselves like that.

"Uh...Kris? Are you just going to stare at me, or..." Noelle was gazing at Kris with an awkward expression. Kris blinked a few times, before taking a step back and looking away. They didn't realize how close they stood to Noelle.

Kris and Noelle both stood there in silence for a moment. Noelle was blushing ever-so-slightly.

Kris felt like an idiot.

After what would be best described as 'agonizing' silence, Noelle was the first to break it: "Um, a-anyway, how have you been doing with your project? I imagine you must have it done by now. With Susie helping you...and such..." Noelle looked a little more energetic when she mentioned Susie, for some reason.

"She's smart, right?" She asked with enthusiasm. Kris raised their eyebrows. "I mean, I know she is! She's putting up a charade of being dumb and strong, but I always felt like she's actually really smart underneath. After all, her grades aren't the worst in class~" She continued while picking up her stuff from the locker. Kris sighed sadly. It took her a moment to realize what she implied, and she quickly turned around to Kris: "Er, sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad..."

Well, now Kris definitely felt bad about their own academic records.

Especially when they remembered how much trouble Susie had solving the puzzles in the Card Castle. Kris and Ralsei had to help her solving it, even though it was just a matter of punching in a simple combination.

And still, Susie was more successful than Kris in school. Even though she was a little thick, she was better.

Kind of like...

...

Kris looked at Noelle blankly, and just nodded. "Yes! I knew it!" Noelle was surprisingly happy with her little detective work. Then, she looked over at Kris curiously.

"Say, Kris...I don't mean to be intrusive, but..."

Noelle looked at the ground sheepishly.

"What IS Susie like? Is she...as bad as everyone says she is? When you get close to her?"

Kris bit their lip. They wanted to say that she's actually a really nice person, but...

'Close to her...' When Noelle said that, Kris was reminded of what they were thinking about this morning: They didn't know Susie that well. Sure, they managed to get past her hostile and aggressive exterior thanks to their adventure together, but they were still WAY off of being true 'friends'. Kris knew nothing of Susie's life outside of school; of her family, her hobbies or anything like that.

...and come to think of it, Susie knew nothing of Kris's life either.

Kris stood there in silence, not knowing what to say. Noelle sighed.

"That's okay. If you don't want to talk about it...it's fine"

Kris felt a shiver down their spine. They heard that before.

Noelle walked started to walk away. Kris wanted to stop her and say something, but-

*obligatory school bell noise*

Well, time to get some answers.

* * *

Or not.

Kris walked into the classroom and looked around. As usual, the perpetrator by the name of Susie was nowhere to be found. Kris didn't think too much of it, and walked over to their desk. Or rather a worse version of their bed, as it was being used as such.

Students poured in from the hallway, and soon enough, the entire classroom was filled up. All except Susie's seat, unsurprisingly. As Kris looked behind them at the empty desk, they decided they would need to find out why Susie comes in late every single day. It was one of the many things they wanted to find out about Susie, followed closely by "Why has nobody ever seen your parents?" and "What do you do outside of school?"

...and possibly "What does chalk taste like?" This, and many other questions were roaming around in Kris's head.

The 'Susie Questionnaire' was expanding rapidly.

After about a minute or two, Alphys walked in, holding yet ANOTHER box of chalk. She hasn't given up yet, it seems. She placed her things on the teachers desk, and began talking to the class;

"A-alright everyone. As you all know, we've been doing group projects for the past week, and you've all been doing wonderfully thus far." She scanned the room, before her eyes landed on Kris. "U-um..most of you anyway."

Kris cringed. Looks like Toriel told Alphys about Kris's miserable results with their project. And by miserable, they mean they haven't done anything. They have yet to begin working with Susie at that spot she showed them the other day.

That overlook area...Kris was looking forward to going there again. Especially if Susie is with them. It's the perfect place to...

...get to know her a little better.

That sounded weird when Kris rephrased it in their head.

...become acquainted with her. Yeah, that sounds better. Wait...does it?

While Kris was busy arguing with themselves and coming up with excuses as to why going to a remote, quiet place with a girl is NOT weird, Alphys continued talking: "B-but I'm afraid we are spending a little bit too much time on it. S-so from now on, lessons will continue normally, while you have to do your project as homework, o-okay?" There was a unified groan from the entire class. Group projects was the only time when talking was allowed in the class, a privilege no one wanted to lose. Well, except for Kris. They never really talked with anyone in school, so they didn't care.

Quite on the contrary, actually. Classes resuming normally meant they could enjoy the sweet sound of silence, and would allow Kris to sleep undisturbed. Well, Alphys would be teaching, but her talking is like one step above silence, so it would still be relatively peaceful.

Alphys then went on to start math class, which caused Kris to immediately lose interest. They sat in their desk and wanted to go to sleep to skip past this nonsense, but...

...They remembered the strange nightmares they had recently. Every time Kris fell asleep, they were greeted by some demented, twisted dream. Kris fidgeted a bit in their seat, and twirled their fingers.

...Did the room just get colder all of a sudden?

...

Kris didn't feel so sleepy anymore.

They decided to just sit there in silence, and wait out until Susie arrives. Susie...Kris looked at the door, and waited for Susie's signature over-dramatic entrance. They waited a few minutes.

3 minutes...

10 minutes...

30 minutes...

Kris started to feel anxious. Susie was late pretty much every single day, but she wouldn't take THAT long to arrive. So what was happening?

40 minutes... the bell rang. The first class was over.

Kris felt dread hanging over them. Susie never missed the first class, she always just came in late. Something was wrong.

* * *

The entire day went by, and Susie was nowhere to be found. Something was DEFINITELY up. Before long, Kris was sitting by their lonesome outside school, waiting for Toriel to come out. Most of the other students were already long gone by this time, and so Kris had no one but the sound of trees shuffling and birds singing as their company. They didn't pay much attention. Their mind was focused on Susie.

Hopefully she's alright. It's wouldn't be abnormal for her to just skip school, as she didn't really care much about education anyway, good results or not. She's probably just sleeping somewhere, or she's too busy stealing someone's food. Yeah, that's it.

...but what if she's not? What if something happened to her? They did leave her alone yesterday night (something that Kris isn't really proud of).

Yeah right. This is SUSIE we are talking about. If anything happened, it would be that Susie did something to someone else. She's a walking tank. No reason to be worried...

...but then...maybe she got in trouble because of that? Maybe she was caught doing something. But what in the world would-

...Kris started thinking back.

They remembered seeing Undyne, alongside some other police officers. It was in the morning. On the way to school.

Kris's eyes widened. They began panicking.

Whatever they saw must be connected to Susie's absence.

Kris completely forgot about Toriel, got up and started sprinting down the road, away from school.

If anything happened to her, or if she did something, Kris couldn't bear the thought that it could be their fault. If only they walked her home...

Susie is Kris's first true friend, and they already failed her. They weren't there for her.

No wonder no one likes Kris if they're so irresponsible. So...stupid.

...

No.

Maybe they are wrong. Maybe there's still time to help. Maybe...what they saw wasn't Susie's fault. Maybe she wasn't involved at all.

Kris began being hopeful. This only made them run faster.

They have to know for sure. They have to know the truth.

And if anything DID happen to Susie...

...Kris would make it right. They would fix it.

..as her friend.

Kris could see the police station in the distance. They were closing in on it fast.

Time to get some answers. For real this time.

(Yes, I stole the chapter name from the Hobbit, i just found it cool, okay?)


	7. Questioning

"So, how did that case with the law-mover went?" A small, bear looking monster asked a bored looking receptionist, who was sitting behind a counter on a comfy looking chair. They were both wearing police uniforms. "What? The one with that old lady? I dunno." The receptionist shrugged, and took a sip of his coffee. "Does it matter?". The bear monster scratched his head and looked away-"Eh..I was just curious. It's the only interesting thing that happened in this town the last couple of days. Well, that and..." the officer's expression turned glum as he trailed off. The receptionist spun around on the chair to face him: "What? You mean THAT?" he asserted himself and began talking much more seriously; "Hey, we don't know what happened last night. That kid probably just had some beverage that wasn't meant for them, and made that whole story up. I mean-" the receptionist stood up and started pacing around the small, empty lounge of the police station. "Look, Undyne checked the place top-to-bottom, and found NOTHING. That, and the fact literally no one else saw or heard anything means the kid was just seeing things. Or they're just playing us for idiots." The receptionist sighed, and slowly sat back down on the chair.

"Sure, but..."the bear monster began talking quietly again. "What if it IS true? What they saw?" He looked up with hollow eyes. "What...what if there actually is some...some deranged person running around and-"

 _SLAM!_

Both of the police officers jumped up suddenly at the overly loud noise. They looked at the entrance, where the sound came from; "Wha-what the hell?!"

There, they saw a human holding the door open, panting.

"Oh. It's just Asgore's kid."

Kris stood in the main doors of the police station, and looked around. There was no one present except two monsters at the reception desk. They began to walk over.

"Good god kid, are you insane?! You nearly broke the damn door down!" The receptionist, who looked like a werewolf as Kris recognized him, was leaning over the counter, glaring daggers at them. The bear was looking over the other officers shoulder with a look of curiosity; "What do you want?"

Right. The reason Kris was here. Now is the time they find out if they failed Susie as a friend, or if there is still a chance for them. Both of them.

...

"Huh? Yeah, we have some kid in the back, he's being questioned right now."

...'He'?

The officer said 'he'...

Success.

"He was attacked last night. Or...at least he says so..." The officers looked at each other for a moment, and then back at Kris. "Why? You know him?"

Kris shook their head.

...

"Susie? What Susie?" The officers looked at each other questioningly again. After a second, the bear spoke up; "Wait, you mean that tall one, right? Purple, long hair?"

Kris nodded.

"uh..well I know her, but I haven't seen her." He suddenly took a step forward, his expression turning worried: "Why are you asking? Is she missing or something?"

Kris thought for a moment.

Because Susie's not here, that means the worst case scenario is false, thankfully. It also means that there is probably a much more reasonable explanation as to why she wasn't in school; of course there was. There had to be.

Kris smiled slightly.

Of course Susie wouldn't be involved in whatever is happening here. Even if she is not the most...rule following type?, she wouldn't cause any major ruckus. And there's NO WAY she would let anyone do anything to her. This was just a big misunderstanding.

...Strange. Looking back, at how Kris felt a few minutes before...

They were never THIS freaked out before. Not once. Normally, Kris takes everything easily. So..it's weird that they would go all nuts over the thought of something...

..something happening to Susie. But...why is that?

Do they really care about her THIS much? That's what friends do, right?

Right...'friends'.

...

For some reason, the word didn't really sound right in Kris's head.

"Um...kid? You alright?"

Well, back into reality land.

"Is it me...or do they look like a zombie?" the werewolf turned to the bear. "Do all humans look like that?" The other monster shrugged.

They both turned back to Kris.

"Hey, I asked Why are you asking so many questions?" The officers were both looking at Kris with demanding stares; "It's not really normal for a kid like you to just barge in here and start questioning us. I mean-that's OUR job!" Kris was standing there, unhinged. "Do YOU know something? About what happened last night? Did you..see anything? Or hear?"

Kris wasn't really listening, instead thinking about their purple lizard friend. But the officers intense stare made them change their thinking topics...

Last night. No...they don't really remember anything. Kris spent the whole evening with Susie atop the overlook...

Kris shook their head.

The officers both sighed in union.

"And..what was that about the girl? Susie?"

Kris didn't want to drag Susie into anything that (thankfully) she wasn't involved in, so they decided to keep her out.

...

"Nothing huh?"

Kris was about to turn around and leave, when the bear monster stepped up.

He tapped the werewolf on the shoulder, and they both turned away from Kris, whispering something.

Kris was left standing there, dumbfounded.

After a minute, Kris decided they had enough, and started walking to the door. Just when they were about to open it, they heard a voice behind them;

"Wait, kid. That girl you talked about...she's in your class, right?" Kris turned around to face the officers. "She's a bit of a...troublesome sort, isn't she?"

Kris heard the doubt in the officers voice, and froze. They didn't like where this was going.

"Say...you wouldn't happen to know where she was last night?"

Kris slowly shook their head.

They REALLY didn't like where this was going.

The officers were looking at Kris with cold expressions.

"Ok. Whatever you say.

..just..."

Kris was about to run out the front door. This conversation was going downhill FAST.

"If you see her, tell her to come by. We've got a couple of our OWN questions for her."

The police both looked at each other, then back at Kris, who was standing at the door with one hand on the handle, ready to book it.

After a moment of silence, Kris walked out the police station. It was practically dark outside, with only a faint glimmer of sunlight on the horizon.

Kris looked at the ground beneath their shoes.

Things are bad. One boulder was lifted from their shoulders...and another one replaced it almost immediately.

The police is now suspecting Susie of..something. Something that she clearly has nothing to do with.

Right?

...

Well...not really.

Kris doesn't know if Susie did anything to that kid...

...They need to find her.

...

Wait. Maybe...

There's one other place where Susie might be. The one place she agreed she would meet Kris at.

The Overlook.

She has to be there. She promised she would. And friends don't break promises.

And so, with a new destination in the head, Kris set out once again, in a search for answers.

( sorry for the long absence, I was busy at school.

Also, Merry Christmas!)


	8. Losing Grip on Ourselves

It was getting dark once again, with the autumn breeze becoming much colder towards the end of the day. Winter was right on the doorstep, so sunlight was being delivered in a much shorter supply, shrouding the entirety of Hometown in a dreary, grey gloom.

With cold wind rushing through their hair, Kris made their way across the small forest patch surrounding their home. Their destination;

The 'Overlook'.

It was a small, rock like peak sticking out of the hillside. Kris decided to call it 'The Overlook' since you can see the entirety of Hometown when standing on top of it.

More importantly to Kris, however, is that it's the only place they know of where Susie hangs out. Therefore, it's the place where she most likely is.

And if not, there may be some clues about her whereabouts in there.

As Kris neared their destination, they kept thinking about that particular fact: that the Overlook is the only place Susie might be. If not there, then where? They searched the town prior, and came up with nothing. Well, they didn't try...

...

Oh god.

Kris suddenly had an epiphany.

...what if she's at her home?

Kris had to stop to let that thought sink in.

...she might be at her home, which is...

...

..Kris doesn't know where Susie lives. No one knows that.

Even though Kris basically remembers the entire town by memory, there's not a single house where she might live. And the next closest town is, like, MILES away. Does that mean...

Does she live in the WOODS? Is she...homeless?

Oh boy...

Surely not, right?

Kris began to feel more and more like an idiot. Idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

No one ever saw Susie's parents. No one knows where she lives. The roughed up, dirty clothes she always wears. The fact that she basically eats EVERYTHING that's edible; even chalk. Not to mention how she always complained about being hungry in the Dark World.

It all makes sense now.

...

...wow. Kris really IS the worst friend a person might have. Susie was struggling with her everyday life, right in front of Kris's eyes, and they just turned away. They just thought she was a bit of a weirdo, but that's it. They could have helped her, all this time...

...like a true friend would.

Except they didn't.

Because they weren't her friend

 **After all, a friend wouldn't attack her, would they?**

Wait...what?

Kris dropped to their knees.

...

...

...

They suddenly got a really bad headache.

...

As they rubbed their forehead, they forgot what they were thinking about just now.

...

After a few seconds, the pain seemed to subside, and Kris got up.

Scowling, they shrugged the fogged memory off.

Eh, it probably wasn't that important. Right now, Susie is at the Overlook, so they need to find her.

That's why they are out here, right?

So once again, Kris started walking toward their destination, through the gloomy orange forest.

* * *

 _*phew*_

What a climb. Kris never realized how actually high up this peak was. Even though it was just a big hill, it was quite large when you got close to it.

Maybe talking on with Susie while walking made them forget about the exhausting path, compared to walking alone.

Looking around, Kris realized that, frankly, there was nothing much to look around at.

It was almost dark, so the only thing that was visible where the tiny shining lights of Hometown, far below. That and and the single, run down bench hidden just off to the side, in the shadow of the tree-tops.

Kris never noticed it before, so they made their way over.

As they walked over, they noticed some sort of big, slouched down object lying down on the bench.

...and as they got even closer, they realized the object was moving.

Breathing, in fact.

Slowly, Kris tip-toed toward the sleeping person, to get a good look at their face.

Aaand bingo.

Kris smiled softly as they stood over the sleeping Susie.

They crouched down beside her, and raised their hand to shake her awake, only...

...sitting down beside Susie, Kris found themselves staring involuntarily at her.

They never got a chance to get a PROPER look at Susie, from up close anyway. Well, they DID, but it was only for a couple of seconds when she slammed Kris against the school lockers and threatened them.

And in that moment Kris was too busy realizing how screwed they were.

So, with slight embarrassment, Kris started eyeing Susie up closely.

She was laying on the side, with one hand under her head for support. The other was wrapped around her stomach, presumably for warmth. Looking to the side, Kris saw that her legs were sticking out from the edge of the bench, as Susie was way too big for it. She was huge; a fact even more evident when she was standing upright. The top of Kris's head could barely reach the base of her neck.

Kris looked at her hands once more. With sharp claws at the end of each finger, her one palm was bigger than Kris's entire face. They could also see through her jacket how muscular her arms were; they weren't over-the-top muscles you could see in body-building magazines, but she could definitely lift Kris up with just one arm.

A fact Kris found out the hard way.

Looking at her sheer size, and her bigger-than-usual muscles, Kris wandered what would it feel like to get hugged by her.

...to get embraced in those big, loving lizard arms...to feel her body against Kris's own...

Kris shook their head quickly to get rid of those thoughts before they could de-rail any further.

Not going down THAT road.

After Kris was done with their * _ahem*_ 'scientific evaluation' of Susie's lower abdomen, they moved on to her face.

Like always, her face covered most of it, allowing only her mouth to be seen. Right now, it was closed, with a neutral expression. It looked innocent enough, but Kris knew all-too-well about the rows of extremely sharp set of teeth she had. Kris did get a VERY personal close-up look on them, after all. A sight that's going to haunt Kris's dreams for a long time.

Now if those dreams will be _nightmares_ or _something else,_ that's up to debate.

Moving closer, Kris could barely hear her soft breathing. For a behemoth like Susie, you would expect her to snore louder than a jet taking off, but she wasn't. In-fact, Kris admired how quiet she actually was. It was rather comforting, as a matter-of-fact. They wanted to hear it a bit better.

...so Kris moved just _a tad_ bit closer...

...and _closer_...

Kris could _feel_ her breath on their face at this point.

 _Maybe...if they..._

Kris's face was now about an inch away from Susie's.

...

 **What the hell am I doing?**

...

Kris blinked a few times, and realized where they were and just what they were almost about to do. They practically jumped away in an instant.

What...just happened?

Kris was sitting on the ground, utterly dumbfounded. Susie was still sleeping on the bench, none the wiser to what just took place.

Kris started to compose their thoughts.

Did they just try to...

No, better question; What were they doing in the past few minutes? Eyeing up Susie like some kind of weirdo?

Kris considered Susie their friend, but that was it. They wanted to know her better, sure, but this?!

They never thought about the two of them being more than friends, as Kris was finding trouble doing just that. Besides, Kris wasn't really sure they could even HAVE a thing for their former bully.

But, that being said, why did they just try to...

...

...well, Kris wasn't sure what they wanted to do just then. It's a bit foggy, for some reason.

Almost as if...they just...

...became someone else for a moment...

Weird.

"Uh...huh?"

Kris looked up, and saw Susie shifting. It looks like she was about to wake up.

Suddenly, Kris didn't really feel like talking to her, ESPECIALLY after what just happened. Mystery or no, Police or no Police, Questions or no questions, Kris became very weary in the presence of Susie for some reason.

This was not good.

* * *

 _( Now, I know what you're thinking: "Where the HELL have you been?"_

 _And I apologize for not writing, but there was A LOT going on in my life. Let me explain:_

 _Without going into unnecessary details, just let me tell you that it's been a VERY hard couple of months for me, and that creativity was just the last thing on my mind. But, that being said, it's looking a bit better now, and I do hope to continue this story._

 _So, no, Soulless isn't dead, and it won't be unless I specifically say so, even if they may be more unannounced hiatuses from me. That's just how I work; keeping a schedule and a plan REALLY isn't my style. Therefore don't be hopeless if I'm not uploading for a long time; i'm just not in the mood, and I apologize for that._

 _Lastly, I wanted to thank EVERYONE who commented, liked or just read my story. You guys rock.)_


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